Duke  University   Libraries 

Special  message 
Conf  Pam  #292 


From    the    President    of    the    Confederate    States,    to    the 
Congress,  with  Accompanying    Documents. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Congress: 

In  the  Message  addressed  to  you  on  the  2'Jth  ult. ,  1  refenod  to 
the  course  of  conduct  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
towards   the    Commissioners   of    this    Government,    sent   to 
Washington  for  the  puri)ose  of  effecting,  if  possible,  a  peaceful 
adjustment  of  the  pending  difficulties  between  the  two  Gov- 
ernments.    I  also  made  allusion  to  'an   intermediary,  Avhosc 
high  position  and  character  inspired  the  hope  of  success;"  but 
I  was  not  then  at  liberty   to  make  my  communication  on  this 
subject,  as  specific  as  was  desirable  for  a  full  compreliension 
of  the  whole  subject.     It  is  now,  however,   in  my  power  to 
place  before  you  other  papers,  w^hich  1  herewith  address  to  you. 
From  this  you  will  percfive  that  the  intermediary  referred  to 
was  the  Hon.  John   A.   Campbell,   a  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,   who  made  earnest  efforts  to  pro- 
mote the  successful  issue  of  the  mission  entrusted  to  our  Com- 
missioners, and  by  whom  I  was  kept  advised,  in  confidential 
communications,   of  the  measures  taken  by  him  to  secure  so 
desirable  a  result.     It  is  due  to  you,  to  him,  and  to  history, 
that  a  narration  of  the  occurrences  Avith  which  he  was  con- 
nected should  be  made  known,  the  more  especially,  as  it  will 
he  seen  by  letters  hereto  appended,  that  the  correctness  and 


accuracy  of  the  recital  have  not  been  questioned  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  of  the  United  States,  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  correct  an  error  in  one 
of  the  statements  made  in  ray  message  of  the  29th  of  April. 
It  is  recited  there  that  I  was  prompted  to  call  you  together, 
in  extraordinary  session  by  reason  of  the  declarations  con- 
tained in  the  proclamation  of  President  Lincoln  of  the  IStli 
of  April.  My  proclamation  convoking  you,  wasissuid  on  the 
12th  of  x\pril,  and  was  prompted  by  the  declaration  of  hostile 
purposes  contained  in  the  message  sent  by  President  Lincoln 
to  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  on  the  8th  April.  As  the 
proclamation  of  President  Lincoln,  of  the  15th  of  April  report- 
ed the  same  hostile  intention  in  more  specific  terms  and  on 
a  mucli  more  extensive  scale,  it  created  a  stronger  impression 
on  my  mind,  and  led  to  the  error  above  alluded  to,  and 
Avhich,   however  unimportant,  I  desire  to  correct. 

JEFFEPuSON  DAVLS. 

Montgomery,  May  8,  1861. 


Lctlers  from  Hon.  Jolm  A.  Cainphell,  late  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  to  Hon.  Win.  H.  Seioard,  United 
States  Secretary  of  State. 

Washington  City,  April  13,  1861, 
Sm  : — On  the  15th  of  March  ult.,  I  left  with  Judge  Craw- 
ford, one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Confederate  States,  a 
note  in  writing  to  the  effect  following  : 

"  I  feel  entire  confidence  that  Fort  Sumter  will  be  evacua- 
ted in  the  next  five  days.  And  this  measure  is  felt  as  impos- 
ing great  responsibility  on  the  administration. 

''  1  feel  entire  confidence  that  no  measure  changing  the 
existing  status,  i)rejudically  to  the  Southern  Confederate  States, 
is  at  present  contemplated. 

"  1  feel  an  entire  confidence  that  an  immediate  demand  for 
an  answer  to  the  communication  of  the  Commissioners  will  be 
productive  of  evil  and  not  of  good.  I  do  not  believe  that  it 
ought,  at  this  time,  to  be  pressed." 


3 

The  substance  of  this  statement  I  communicated  to  you  the 
same  evening  by  letter.  Five  days  ehapsed,  and  I  called 
with  a  telegram  from  Gen.  Beauregard  to  the  effect  that 
Sumter  was  not  evacuated,  but  that  Major  Anderson  was  at 
work  making  repairs. 

The  next  day,  after  conversing  with  you,  I  communicated  to 
Judge  Crawford,  in  writing,  that  the  failure  to  evacuate  bumter 
was  not  the  result  of  bad  faith,  but  was  attributable  to  causes 
consistent  with  the  intention  to  fulfil  the  engagemement,  and 
that  as  regarded  Pickens,  1  should  have  notice  of  any  design 
to  alter  the  existing  stratus  there.  Mr.  Justice  Nelson 
was  present]  at  these  conversations,  three  in  number,  and  I 
submitted  to  him  each  of  my  written  communications  to 
Judge  Crawford,  and  informed  Judge  C.  that  they  had  his 
(Judge  Nelson's)  sanction.  I  gave  you,  on  the  22d  of  March, 
a  substantial  copy  of  the  statement  I  had  made  on  the  15th. 

The  30th  of  March  arrived,  and  at  that  time  a  telegram 
came  from  Gov.  Pickens,  inquiring  concerning  Col.  Lamon, 
whose  visit  to  Charleston  he  supposed  had  a  connection  with 
the  proposed  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter. 

I  left  that  with  you,  and  was  to  have  an  answer  the  follow- 
ing Monday,  (1st  of  Apiil.)  On  the  1st  of  April  I  received 
from  you  the  statement  in  writing  :  "(I  am  satisfied)  the  Gov- 
ernment will  not  undertake  to  supply  Fort  Sumter  without 
sivinjr  notice  to  Gov.  P."  The  words  ''  I  am  satisfied"  were 
lor  me  to  use  as  expressive  of  confidence  in  the  remainder  of 
the  declaration. 

The  proposition  as  originally  prejiarcd  was,  "  the  President 
may  desire  to  supply  Sumter,  but  Avill  not  do  so,"  &c.,  and 
your  verbal  explanation  was  that  you  did  not  believe  any  such 
attempt  would  be  made,  and  that  there  was  no  design  to  rein- 
force Sumter. 

There  was  a  departure  here  from  the  pledges  of  the  previ- 
ous month,  but  with  the  verbal  explanation,  I  did  not  consider 
it  a  matter  then  to  complain  of.  I  simjily  stated  to  you  that 
I  had  that  assurance  previously. 


4 

Ou  the  7th  day  of  April  I  addressed  you  a  letter  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  alarm  that  the  preparations  by  the  Government  had 
created,  and  asked  you  if  the  assurances  I  had  given  were  well 
or  ill-founded.  In  respect  to  Sumter  your  reply  Avas,  "Faith 
as  to  Sumter,  fully  kept — wait  and  see."  In  the  morning's 
paper  I  read,  "  An  authorized  messenger  from  President  Lin- 
coln informed  Gov.  Pickens  and  Gen.  Beauregard  that  provi- 
sions will  be  sent  to  Fort  Sumter — peaceably,  or  otherioise  hy 
force."'  This  was  t-.e  8th  of  April,  at  Charleston,  the  day 
following  your  last  assurance,  and  is  the  evidence  of  the  full 
faith  I  was  invited  to  wait  for  and  see.  In  the  same  paper,  I 
read  th«t  intercepted  dispatches  disclosed  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Fox,  who  had  been  allowed  to  visit  Major  Anderson,  on  the 
pledge  that  his  purpose  was  pacific,  employed  his  opportunity 
to  devise  a  plan  for  supplying  the  Fort  hy  force,  and  that  this 
plan  had  been  adopted  by  the  Washington  Government,  and 
was  in  process  of  execution.  My  recollection  of  the  date  of 
Mr.  Fox's  visit  carries  it  to  a  day  in  March.  I  learn  lie  is  a 
near  connection  of  a  member  of  the  Cabinet.  My  connection 
with  tl)e  Commissioners  and  yourself  Avas  superinduced  by  a 
conversation  with  Justice  Nelson.  He  informed  me  of  your 
strong  disposition  in  favor  of  peace,  and  that  you  were  oppressed 
with  a  demand  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Confederate  States 
for  a  reply  to  their  first  letter,  and  that  you  desired  to  avoid  it 
if  possible  at  that  time. 

I  told  him  I  might  perhaps  be  of  some  service  in  arranging 
the  difficulty.  I  came  to  your  office  entirely  at  his  request 
and  without  the  knowledge  of  either  of  the  Commissioners. 
Your  depression  was  obvious  to  both  Judge  Nelson  and  myself. 
I  was  gratified  at  the  character  of  the  counsels  you  were 
desirous  of  pursuing  and  much  impressed  Avith  your  observation 
that  a  civil  A\'ar  might  be  prevented  by  the  success  of  my  me- 
diation. You  read  a  letter  of  Mr.  Weed  to  sboAv  how  irksome 
and  responsible  the  withdraAval  of  troops  from  Sumter  Avas.  A 
portion  of  my  communication  to  Judge  CraAvford  on  the  15tli 
March,   Avas  founded    uon    these   remarks,   and  the  pledge  to 


evacuate  Sumter  is  less  forcible  than  the  words  you  employed. 
These  words  were:  Before  this  letter  reaches  you,  (a  proposed 
letter  by  me  to  President  Davis,)  Sumter  will  have  been 
evacuated. 

The  Commissioners  who  received  those  communications,  con- 
clude they  have  been  abused  and  overreached.  The  Mont- 
gomery Government  hold  the  same  opinion.  The  Commis- 
sioners have  supposed  that  my  communications  were  with  you, 
and  upon  the  hypothesis  were  prepared  to  arraign  you  before 
the  country  in  connection  with  the  President.  I  placed  a  per- 
emptory prohibition  upon  this  as  being  contrary  to  the  term  of 
my  communications  with  them.  I  pledged  myself  to  them  to 
communicate  information  upon  what  I  considered  as  the  best 
autliority,  and  they  were  to  confide  in  the  ability  of  myself, 
aided  by  Judge  Nelson,  to  determine  upon  tlie  credibility  of 
my  informant. 

I  think  no  candid  man  who  will  read  over  what  I  liave 
written,  and  consider  for  a  moment  what  is  going  on  at  Sum- 
ter, but  will  agree  that  the  equivocating  conduct  of  the  Ad- 
ministration, as  measured  and  interpreted  in  connection  with 
these  promises,  is  the  proximate  cause  of  the  great  calamity. 

I  have  a  profound  conviction  that  the  telegrams  of  the  8th 
of  April  of  Gen.  Beauregard,  and  of  the  10th  of  April  of  Gen. 
Walker,  the  Secretary  of  War,  can  be  referred  to  nothing  else 
than  their  belief  that  there  has  been  systematic  duplicity  prac- 
ticed on  them  through  me.  It  is  under  an  oppressive  sense  of 
the  weight  of  this  responsibility  that  I  submit  to  you  these 
things  for  your  explanation. 

V^ery  respectfully, 
[Signed]  JOHN  A.  CAMPBELL, 

Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  U.  S. 
Hon.  Wm.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 


•     6 

DISPATCHES. 

To  L.  P.  Walker,  Secrefarr  of  War: 

An  authorized  message  from  President  Lincoln  just  informed 
Gov.  Pickens  and  myself  that  provisions  will  be  sent  to  Fort 
Sumter  peaceably,  or  otherwise  by  force. 

General  P.  G.  T.  Beaurer/ard : 

If  you  have  no  doubt  as  to  tlie  autliorized  character  of  the 
agent  who  communicated  to  you  the  intention  of  the  Wash- 
ington Government  to  supply  Fort  Sumter  by  force,  you  wiU 
at  once  demand  its  evacuation,  and  if  this  is  iefused  proceed 
in  such  manner  as  you  may  determine  to  reduce  it. 


Washington  City,  April  20,  1861. 
Sir: — I  enclose  you  a  letter,  corresponding  very  nearly  with 
one  I  addressed  to  you  a  week  ago,  (I3th  Ayjril,)  to  which  I 
have  not  had  any  reply.  The  letter  is  simply  one  of  enquiry 
in  reference  to  facts  concerning  which,  I  think,  I  am  entitled 
to  an  explanation.  I  have  not  adopted  any  opinion  in  refer- 
ence to  them  which  may  not  be  modified  by  explanation^  nor 
have  I  affirmed  in  that  letter  ;  nor  do  I  in  this,  any  conclusion 
of  my  own  unfavorable  to  your  integrity  in  the  whole  trans- 
action.  , 

All  that  I  have  said  and  mean  to  say  is,  that  an  explanation 
is  due  from  you  to  myself.  I  will  not  say  what  I  shall  do  in 
case  this  request  is  not  complied  with,  but  I  am  justified  in 
saying  that  I  shall  feel  at  liberty  to  place  tliese  letters  before 
any  person  who  is  entitled  to  ask  an  explanation  of  myself. 
Very  KespectfuUy, 

JOHN  A.   CAMPBELL, 
Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  U.  S. 
Hon.  Wm.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 

No  reply  has  been  made  to  this  letter. 
April  24,  1861. 


Letter  from  Judge  Camphall  to  the  President  of  the  Confederate 

States. 

Montgomery,  Ala.,  May  Y,  1861. 
Sir: — I  submit  to  you  two  letters  that  were  addressed  by  me 
to  the  Hon.  W.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States,  that  contain  an  explanation   of  the  nature  and  result 
of  an  intervention  by  me  in   tlie  intercourse  of  the  Commis- 
sioners of  tlic  Confederate  States  with  that  officer.     I  consid- 
ered that  I  could  perform  no  duty  in  which  the  entire  Ameri- 
can people,  whether  of  the  Federal  Union  or  of  the  Confede- 
rate States,  were  more  interested  than  that  of  promoting  the 
counsels  and  the  policy  that  had  for  their  object  the  preserva- 
tion of  peace.     This  motive  dictated  my  intervention.     Besides 
tlie  interview   referred   to   in   these  letters,    I   informed   the 
Assistant  Secretary  of  State  of  the   United  States,  (not  being 
able  to   see  the   Secretary,)   on  the    11th    April,  ult.,  of  the 
existence  of  a  telegram  of  that  date,  from  Gen.  Beauregard 
to  the  Commissioners,  in  which  he   informed   the    Commis- 
sioners  that   he   had   demanded   the   evacuation   of  Sumter, 
and  if  refused  he  would  proceed  to  reduce  it.     On  the  same 
day,   I  had  been  told  that  President  Lincoln  had  said  that 
none  of  the  vessels  sent  to  Charleston  were  war  vessels,  and 
that  force  was  not  to  be  used  in  the  attempt  to  supply  the 
Fort.     I  liad  no  means  of  testing  the  accuracy  of  this   infor- 
mation ;  but  offered  that  if  the   information  was   accurate  I 
would  send  a  telegram  to  the  authorities  at  Charleston,  and  it 
miglit  prevent  the  disastrous  consequences  of  a  collision  at 
that  fort  between  the  opposing  forces.     It  was  the  last  effort 
that   I   -would  make   to   avert   the   calamities   of  war.     The 
Assistant  Secretary  promised  to  give  the  matter  attention,  but 
I  had  no  other  intercourse  with  him  or   any   other   person  on 
the  subject,  nor  have  I  had  any  reply  to  the  letters  submitted 

to  you. 

Very  Kespectfully, 

JOHN  A.  CAMPBELL. 

Gex.  Davls,  President  of  the  Confederate  States. 


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